Morris Museumhttp://www.morrismuseum.org
100 Years of Exhibitions, Education & EntertainmentThu, 08 Dec 2016 21:05:37 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.4.5The Guinness Collection Composer Series: An Evening with Rossinihttp://www.morrismuseum.org/evening-rossini-2/
Sat, 16 Aug 2014 15:22:16 +0000http://www.morrismuseum.org/?p=14494This past spring, the staff of the Guinness Collection presented a program on Italian composer, Gioachino Rossini. As with our other popular Guinness presentations, guests were delighted with the musical offerings of this renowned composer through mechanical musical instruments.

Gioachino Antonio Rossini (1792-1868) was an Italian composer, born in Pesaro, Italy.

The only child of musically-talented parents, it was natural that his musical ability emerged at a young age. Although Rossini composed sacred music, songs, chamber music and instrumental pieces, it was during a relatively short period of his long life that he composed 39 operas. His best-known operas include the Italian comedy, Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville) and the French-language epic, Guillaume Tell (William Tell). Nicknamed the Italian Mozart, Rossini had been one of the most popular opera composers in history until his retirement in 1829. It is still not known why he stopped writing operas – especially during the height of his popularity.

Not only is it a treat for our visitors but also for Jere and myself, to bring some of these marvelous machines out of Viewable Storage for all to enjoy! Attendees were entertained and moved by the music, as heard on 19th century musical boxes, and no less upon hearing the Overture of The Barber of Seville on the Duo-Art Player Piano and Poppers Rex Orchestrion in the Guinness Gallery! Take a look at some of the mechanical musical instruments we brought out of the vault for our visitors’ listening pleasure!

This beautifully decorated cylinder musical box was made in Geneva, Switzerland by Nicole Frѐres, from 1858. It contains three tunes: Overture de Guillaume Tell, 1829,the Overture from La Gazza Landra, or The Thieving Magpie, 1817, and Overture de Semiramis, 1823.

The French epic, William Tell, was Rossini’s last opera even though the composer lived for nearly forty more years. The opera’s length was roughly four hours of music; when performed, its length was usually shortened. La Gazza Ladra shades comic elements with darker overtones. It is based on the true story about a French servant girl who was tried and executed for theft; later, the townspeople discovered that a magpie was the real thief. However, Rossini’s version ends on a happy note. The opera, Semiramide was one of Rossini’s serious dramas that featured his wife, soprano Isabella Colbran. She created the leading female role in nearly a dozen Rossini operas.

Rossini was famous for his writing speed: he claimed he could write an aria in 4 minutes, and often finished a composition within 2-3 weeks. But he didn’t always deliver his final work on time. It was reported that the producer had to lock Rossini in a room the day before the first performance of The Thieving Magpie to write the overture! Rossini then threw each sheet out of the window to his copyists, who wrote out the full orchestral parts.

This simple musical box dates back to 1864, and is marked Ducommun-Girod, Neuchatel, Switzerland. Its cylinder contains 4 songs, two of which are Rossini’s. Although the opera greatly departs from Shakespeare’s Othello, the Overture from Rossini’s 1816 Otello is quite striking on this instrument. Rossini’s adaptation would become a milestone in the development of opera as musical drama. Le siège de Corinthe (The Siege of Corinth), was Rossini’s first French opera, and it debuted in Paris in 1826. The opera commemorates the siege and ultimate destruction of the town of Missolonghi in 1826 by Turkish troops during the Greek War of Independence from the Ottomans (1821–1829).

Made by the Regina Music Box Company of Rahway, NJ, the Style 145 27½” Disc-Player was manufactured from 1910-1913. Using interchangeable discs, a variety of music was enjoyed on this rather large musical instrument made for home use. We used it to play, much to the delight of our audience, the second cavatina, There’s a Voice, from The Barber of Seville. Back in the day, much was made of how this particular opera buffa was composed in 2-3 weeks, although Rossini claims it only took him 12 days!

Rossini enjoyed a long life – he died at 76 years of age – at his villa in a suburb of Paris. He was a larger-than-life character in many ways, and was known for his quick wit. For his 70th birthday celebration in 1862, several of the composer’s friends had a colossal statue built in his honor. He was deeply touched by the gesture, but when he learned of the tremendous cost for the commissioned work, Rossini quipped, Why not give the money to me, and I’ll stand on the pedestal myself?

We hope you will join us in the future for more Guinness Collection programs! Please check the website for more details.

~Michele Marinelli, Curator of the Guinness Collection

]]>Spotlight on the Guinness Collection: Precious Smallshttp://www.morrismuseum.org/spotlight-guinness-collection-precious-smalls/
Thu, 10 Apr 2014 15:04:53 +0000http://www.morrismuseum.org/?p=13559Inventions in mechanical music leaped forward in the late 1700s into the 1800s as clock and watchmakers discovered ways in which to incorporate musical movements into the tiniest of pieces. The introduction of musicwork into tiny objects was almost exclusively restricted to Swiss makers located in Switzerland and elsewhere, and required the greatest possible skill and finest craftsmanship.

Evidence shows that in 1796, Geneva clockmaker, Antoine Favre gifted to another person, a newly made musical (seal?), with a design not seen before, utilizing tuned steel reeds, or “teeth.” It was a marvel of miniaturization at the time! The comb was plucked by pins on a musical cylinder, and in time, the ability to make music from mechanisms only a few centimeters in length and even smaller thickness, drove a tremendous musical novelty market. These tiny comb movements were placed in objects such as watches, seals, pendants, snuff boxes, fans, scent-bottles and more. They became a fashion statement!

Today, we’ll explore a few interesting “precious smalls” from the Guinness Collection. Later in the month, we’ll take a look at a few more!

In German, the word glockenspiel refers to a “set of bells,” and this diminutive 4”x4” miniature musical box contains 5 tiny bronze bells. Made by Petrus Peckmann of Austria, c1750-1770, the gilded case of this Miniature Glockenspiel features elaborate engravings and detailed pierce work decorations, which allow the sound to flow outward. Five tiny hammers strike the bells while the brass pinned wooden cylinder plucks a 70-tooth comb to produce 6 different melodies…however, each one only lasts about 7 seconds!

Isaac Daniel Piguet was a high-end watchmaker who partnered with Henri Daniel Capt between 1802 and 1811. Capt created fine quality snuffboxes, watches and automata.

Created by Piguet and Capt in Geneva, 1802-1811, the tiniest of mechanical musical mechanisms was placed into this striking Musical Ring with an animated scene, and was set with 8 turquoise stones. The ring contains an 8-note movement within the octagonal case, and a beautifully engraved floral motif decoration. Interestingly, the glass bezel was cleverly shaped to magnify the miniature scene. As one can imagine, a piece such as this required the varied skills of a designer, jeweler, enameller, goldsmith, engraver, stone-setter, plus the first generation of musical box maker.

Look closely to view a music session in the drawing room, complete with hanging oil lamp and the pet dog curled up asleep on the floor. A woman turns the handle of a serinette, often used to train birds to sing short human melodies. Standing before the music stand, the music master has a violin tucked under his arm, in which he raises and lowers his bow to keep time to the music that accompanies the performance.

The earliest seals date back to ancient history, and were in general use in early Medieval Europe. During a period of time when a majority of people could neither read or write, the seal was their signature. Later, seals became more widely used by prominent families: the nobility and royalty whose own unique seals were used for correspondence and official documents. By the 19th century, the official practice of sealing had become restricted to legal documents, such as marriage, while the main use of a personal seal was to secure letters.

In this piece, made in Geneva, c1810, there are 6 separate tuned steel teeth that are stacked up directly next to a tiny spring barrel with the program pins; this saves space. The teeth with greater mass and weight, produce a lower pitch note, the thinner, the higher. Unfortunately, its maker is unknown.

Join me in a couple of weeks and we’ll take a look at a necessaire, or work box made of mother-of-pearl, a musical jewelry box with dancers – very unlike the modern jewel box – and a pop-up singing bird. Until then, enjoy these precious smalls!

~Michele Marinelli, Curator of the Guinness Collection

]]>STORIES FROM THE VAULT: Space Rockshttp://www.morrismuseum.org/stories-from-the-vault-6/
Fri, 21 Mar 2014 19:42:00 +0000http://www.morrismuseum.org/stories-from-the-vault-6/On a February morning in 2013, a meteor traveled through the skies above Russia’s Ural Mountain region. Scientists estimated the meteor had a force 20 times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb, however it exploded at a much higher altitude and the atmosphere acted as a shield. The meteor’s intense flash of light was momentarily brighter than the sun and its shockwave shattered more than a million square feet of glass, which left approximately a thousand people injured.

Although such meteor strikes are rare, meteorites can be found anywhere on Earth. Meteors are solid pieces of rock and metal that have broken away from larger pieces of extraterrestrial debris, such as asteroids. They accelerate to speeds of over 11.2 kilometers per second once they enter the Earth’s gravitational force, but their speed slows down and they turn into bright glowing balls of fire due to friction from entering the Earth’s atmosphere. If the meteor survives impact with the Earth’s surface, it is called a “meteorite.” Meteors often impact uninhabited areas, such as open fields, forests and the ocean. Perhaps one of the best places to find meteorites is in Antarctica – thousands have been recovered here, since they are easy to spot against the white landscape.

The Morris Museum has several meteorites that exhibit interesting clues about their origins. One of them, known as MET-4, is part of the Allende meteorite, the largest carbonaceous chondrite found on Earth, which landed in the Mexican state of Chihuahua in 1969. MET-4 contains a black coating on its exterior that formed from the fiery entry of this meteorite into the Earth’s atmosphere (see photograph below). This meteorite is classified as a carbonaceous chondrite, or stony meteorite – these are the most primitive forms of meteorites and they only account for around 4.6 percent of all meteorites found on Earth. The ingredients in chondrites offer us interesting clues about the earliest history of our Solar System and how it formed long before there were any planets. MET-4 contains large, calcium-aluminum rich inclusions, which are among the oldest elements in our Solar System.

Meteorites can measure a fraction of a millimeter to the size of a football field and beyond. The Morris Museum’s MET-6 is a fragment from the Canyon Diablo meteorite that formed Barringer Crater (also known as Meteor Crater) in northern Arizona around 50,000 years ago (see photograph below). This crater, which has become a national tourist attraction, is 550 feet deep and around one mile wide. MET-6 is an iron, octahedrite meteorite that is composed of metallic nickel (see photograph below). Octahedrite meteorites come from the metallic cores of asteroids and dwarf planets.

Most meteorites originate from the collision of two asteroids in space. Other meteorites come from the Moon and Mars. Recently, it was determined that a newly discovered collection of meteorites contains a very different composition from other meteorites previously known. Researchers are still pondering where in our Solar System these meteorites could have originated from. Another meteorite, known as NWA 7325, is green in color (see photograph below by Stefan Ralew) and researchers believe it could have came from Mercury, or a body similar in composition to that of Mercury.

Meteorites provide scientists with valuable clues about the origins of our Solar System and the makeup of other planets, without having to travel to these planets. Certain carbonaceous chondrite meteorites even contain amino acids – the building blocks of life. More than seventy varieties of amino acids have been found in meteorites. Some scientists believe that life’s key ingredients could have formed in space and possibly been delivered to Earth long ago by meteorites.

To see more of the Morris Museum’s meteorite collection, and to learn about things from out of this world, come to the Morris Museum’s Astro Day on Saturday, March 22nd, from 11:00 am– 4:00 pm. Night Sky Observing Hours will be 7:00-9:00 pm, weather permitting.
By Maria Ribaudo, Collections Manager

]]>Spotlight on Guinness: OUR REGARDS TO BROADWAY!http://www.morrismuseum.org/our-regards-to-broadway-3/
Wed, 19 Mar 2014 17:52:24 +0000http://www.morrismuseum.org/our-regards-to-broadway-3/This Thursday, March 20, the Guinness Staff will present Our Regards to Broadway, a look at Broadway show tunes as heard on mechanical musical instruments. During the program, we will explore the evolution of musical entertainment from early comic operas and operettas to vaudeville and variety, concluding the evening with musical comedies and the Broadway musical. In my last post, I highlighted a few of the machines that will be played, and now I’d like to focus on the music, from Savoy Operas to the age of Gershwin.

Attributed with the creation of the Savoy Opera, producer Richard D’Oyly Carte encouraged the legendary collaboration of W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan. Their comic operas satirized contemporary issues and trends, but also tremendously influenced the development of musical theatre. The duo’s most successful show is The Mikado, from which a selection will be heard on a Mermod Freres cylinder musical box. Even today, it remains one of the most frequently performed Savoy Operas.

The musical comedy Floradora by Leslie Stuart opened on the London stage in 1899 and premiered on Broadway in 1900. Aside from being a humorous story set on the island of Floradora, with their main industry of extracting the essence of the Floradora flower to manufacture perfume, the big attraction was a sextet of English Girls, or later known as the Floradora Girls. Over seventy women held these roles during the first run of the musical, which consisted of 455 London performances and 552 shows on Broadway. The role required that each woman be beautiful: 5’4” tall and weigh 130 pounds! Needless to say, many of the girls eventually left the show to settle down with young male admirers.

Nearly everyone is familiar with 1903 operetta, Babes in Toyland, written by Victor Herbert and Glen MacDonough, thanks to the classic film version. Even today, audiences are entranced as various characters from Mother Goose nursery rhymes are woven together into a Christmas-themed musical extravaganza! One of Herbert’s most well-known tunes, Toyland,will be heard on the Mira disc musical box during the program.

Shuffle Along, a musical comedy by composer Eubie Blake and lyricist Noble Sissle, featured an all-black cast and was the most significant achievement in African-American theater of its time. The show opened in 1921, first in Washington, D.C., followed by a Broadway premiere. Running for 504 performances, the show launched the careers of Josephine Baker, Adelaide Hall and Paul Robeson. This landmark production legitimized African-American musicals and contributed to desegregation of theaters in the 1920s by giving many black actors their first chance to appear on Broadway and allowing African-American audiences to sit in orchestra seats rather than being relegated to the balcony. One of the show’s most popular tunes, I’m Just Wild about Harry, will be played on an Ampico Reproducing Piano.

The songwriting team of Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II brought Edna Ferber’s novel Showboat to the stage in 1927. Serious themes of racial prejudice and enduring love were put to music in this groundbreaking musical, and its well-known tune, Ol’ Man River provided a contrast of the struggles experienced by African-Americans with the endless, unemotional flow of the Mississippi River. The song sounds quite interesting as played on the Style L Coin Piano, or nickelodeon.

The answer? The man who owned Broadway – George M. Cohan. Cohan is considered by many to be the first superstar in show business due to his inexhaustible talents as an actor, singer, dancer, songwriter, playwright, director and producer. He began his career in vaudeville with his family, and they took to the stage in 1901 for Cohan’s first stage musical. But it was Little Johnny Jones, which opened in 1904, that had some of his most recognizable tunes. In the above photo, as Johnny Jones gazes upon the departing ocean liner, he begins to sing these words: Give my regards to Broadway, remember me to Herald Square…. We will listen to different recognizable tune from this show on the Encore Automatic Banjo: Yankee Doodle Dandy.

The 1930s and 1940s are considered the heyday of stage and film musicals, and we’ll listen to the songs of George and Ira Gershwin and Cole Porter on the Duo-Art Player Piano. From the 1930 musical Girl Crazy, Gershwin’s I Got Rhythm, sung by Ethel Merman, has become a jazz standard. Merman was also starred in Porter’s 1934 hit, Anything Goes, the first of five musicals he wrote that featured her. What could be better than to close with these giants of Broadway!

Whether we call it vaudeville, variety, operetta or comic opera, ultimately, the musical is a living art form. It tells stories – both comic and tragic – through song. We hope to see you Thursday night, and look forward to entertaining you with the sounds of Broadway!

~Michele Marinelli, Curator of the Guinness Collection

Our Regards to Broadway

Thursday, March 20, 6:30-8:00pm

Tickets: $7 members/$9 non-members

To register, please call 973-971-3706

]]>Spotlight on Guinness: TELLING TALES OF SONGS OF LOVEhttp://www.morrismuseum.org/telling-tales-of-songs-of-love/
http://www.morrismuseum.org/telling-tales-of-songs-of-love/#respondWed, 19 Feb 2014 02:22:57 +0000http://www.morrismuseum.org/telling-tales-of-songs-of-love/The Morris Museum’s recent Chocolate Festival was attended by over 1200 visitors! Among the exhibits, activities, crafts, and of course – chocolate – the public was delighted by the sounds of mechanical music in the Guinness Gallery. It is hard to say which mechanical instrument was more popular as they all have their own unique sound and presence. People swayed to the buoyant sounds of the Limonaire Orchestrophone, and got quite a workout playing the Duo-Art foot pump player piano, but visitors were intrigued with the Regina disc player. Let me tell you a story….

Established in 1892, The Regina Music Box Company, first located at Jersey City, then Rahway, NJ, introduced the automatic self-changer in 1897. The Sublima Corona was manufactured in 1899; it was a coin-operated mechanical musical instrument intended for public entertainment. At only five cents a song, it was found in stores, restaurants, cafes and dance halls. A precursor to the jukebox, it was the first musical box which automatically changed twelve 20¾” steel discs. When one disc was finished, it would lower back into its place on the carriage while the next disc mechanically rose into position, and played the next song. It was considered a technological marvel of scientific engineering!

However, the disc musical box was short-lived as it was unable to compete with an even newer technology: recorded sound as reproduced by a “talking machine,” or the gramophone. Regina was the last company to produce disc musical players, and ended its production in the early 1920s. Even so, the company survived, and exists today with their product line of vacuum cleaners and other household appliances.

The Guinness Collection, acquired in 2003 following the death of Murtogh D. Guinness, contains approximately 750 mechanical musical instruments and automata. About one year after receiving the collection, the former Executive Director of Morris Museum, Steven Miller, traveled to London to visit the Marchioness of Normanby, sister of Murtogh Guinness, to inform her of the status of her deceased brother’s collection. During the visit, Lady Normanby graced Miller with the heartfelt story of how Guinness presented her with the Regina Sublima Corona as a birthday gift, and how she and her guests were always greatly entertained by its magnificent music. Lady Normanby offered to donate it to the museum, and add it to the existing collection. This is the only piece in the collection that Guinness did not own; rather, it was a personal gift to a family member.

Guinness Conservator Jere Ryder, his brother, Steve, and their parents (who were also collectors of mechanical musical instruments), were lifelong friends with Murtogh Guinness. As he was growing up, Jere watched the collection grow as he spent many hours at Guinness’ twin townhouses in NYC where Guinness lived with his collection. Jere began at an early age to repair and restore mechanical musical instruments and automata, and apprenticed in Switzerland to advance his specialized knowledge and skills. When the Morris Museum was awarded the collection, who better than Jere to join the museum as the collection’s conservator! A remnant of bygone days, mechanical musical instruments played an important role in the leisure lives of people during the 19th and 20th centuries, and contributed to the evolution of musical entertainment for home and public use. Nearly all modern musical technology can be traced to these early musical machines.

Join us in the Murtogh D. Guinness Gallery when Songs of Love will be performed using the mechanical marvels of the Guinness Collection. Throughout the annual Chocolate Festival on Saturday, February 8, 2014, enjoy sweet treats and delight in musical selections specifically chosen for you!

You can expect to hear the impressive sounds of the Poppers Rex orchestrion, c1915, as it plays Indian Love Call, from the 1924 operetta Rose-Marie. Written by composers Rudolph Friml and Herbert Stothart, the song is reputed to be Friml’s best known piece of music. The premise of the story, set in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, relates to an old Native American legend. The story was passed down that two people from enemy tribes fell in love, and they would secretly meet in the mountains. Upon discovery, they were sentenced to death but their “love call” lived on through the couple’s spirits. When a lover calls, the spirits send it to the beloved, and this scene is romantically re-enacted in the show by Rose Marie and her love, Sergeant Bruce who sings this classic song.

We have selected several tunes for you enjoy on our fairground organ, the Limonaire orchestophone, c1910. Sous les Ponts de Paris, or The Bridges of Paris refers to the time-honored tradition of lovers meeting at these artistic, architectural marvels. Often viewed as symbols of love, the romantic city of Paris contains numerous bridges allowing passage over the Seine River and various canals. The Band Played On, written in 1895 by John F. Palmer and Charles B. Ward, was a popular song hit of the day, and beyond! Better known by its chorus, Casey would waltz with the strawberry blonde and the band played on…this tune can be heard in more than a dozen films. Another tune comes from the musical, My Fair Lady; it opened on Broadway in 1956, and was followed by the film in 1964. One of the memorable tunes, Get Me to the Church, refers to the impending marriage of Alfred P. Doolittle who, on the eve of his wedding, implores his friends to make sure his nighttime frolics don’t make him late to the altar! Che Sera Sera is commonly associated with actress Doris Day as her signature song but it was first introduced in the Alfred Hitchcock film, The Man Who Knew Too Much in 1956. Through its optimistic lyric, “whatever will be, will be,” the song represents the transition from childhood to adulthood, and falling in love to parenthood.

The Sublima Corona autochanger, made by the Regina Music Box Company, c1899, is an early pre-cursor to the jukebox, and holds twelve 20-3/4” punched metal discs. It operates automatically with the drop of a nickel! Listen and enjoy songs of love such as Rudolph Friml’s Loves Own Kiss, from the 1913 musical theater production of High Jinks. From vaudeville to Broadway, Frederick Bowers’ 1900 composition, When I Think of You, is a musical delight!

In the Murtogh D. Guinness Gallery, you’ll be Dancing Cheek to Cheek while enjoying the sounds of the Duo-Art Player Piano, c1920. From this foot-pumped piano, you will hear the popular hit song from the 1935 musical comedy film, Top Hat. Nearby, in the Mansion Galleries, come listen to the AMPICO Reproducing Piano in the Dodge Room. You’ll be “wild about Harry” too when you experience this hit song by Eubie Blake, from the 1921 Broadway show, Shuffle Along. While you explore and enjoy the elegance of the Dodge Room, hang around to hear tunes from the 1899 comedic musical love story, Floradora including Tell Me Pretty Maiden.

With Valentine’s Day approaching, consider bringing your loved one(s) out to the Chocolate Festival to savor sweet treats and listen to songs of love through mechanical music!

Welcome back to Part 2 of our look at the Strauss Family, leading up to the Morris Museum’s An Evening with Strauss on Thursday, January 16! As a single family of musicians, conductors and composers, the Strausses are nearly without equal. So let’s explore briefly both the professional and personal lives of this prolific family.

Johann Strauss the Elder excelled as a violinist, and joined Michael Pamer’s orchestra as a teenager. At fifteen, he was recruited by Joseph Lanner, also a former member of Pamer’s orchestra, and began a productive career that included both conducting and composing music. Lanner launched a second orchestra with Strauss I at the helm. The Lanner-Strauss partnership is credited with the introducing the Viennese Waltz.

The history of the waltz dates back to the 13th century as a dance form enjoyed by peasants in what is now modern-day Germany and Austria. Based on these early folk dances, the waltz, danced in ¾ time, was considered quite immoral and scandalous. It wasn’t until the popularity of Strauss’s music during the 19th century that the waltz became an acceptable, even elegant dance performed and enjoyed by royalty and the nobility.

While his professional life and music was well-known, the personal life of Johann Strauss I also presents an interesting story. Of the six children born to him and his wife, Maria Anna Streim, three sons pursued musical careers, against the wishes of their father. But Strauss also maintained a long-time mistress who gave him an additional seven children. Following Anna and Strauss I’s divorce, he lived with his mistress and later died in her flat in 1849. Interestingly, Strauss was buried in Vienna next to his old friend and musical partner Joseph Lanner who had died in 1843. Although their remains were removed from the former cemetery, the original tombstones of the two men continue to stand in Strauss-Lanner Park in Vienna.

The most well-known Strauss, attributed as “the waltz king,” is Strauss’s son Johann. Strauss II was encouraged to pursue a musical career by his mother and eventually formed the Strauss Orchestra; it’s interesting to note that for a short period of years, the orchestras of father and son were in competition with each other! However, upon the death of Strauss the Elder, the Younger combined the two orchestras and brought in his brothers, Josef and Eduard, to help manage the Strauss Family Orchestra.

Taking a page from his father’s life, Strauss II acquired three wives throughout his lifetime, yet also proved to be an unfaithful spouse. However, professionally, the amount of work he produced – more than 500 orchestral compositions including An der schonen blauen Donau, or The Blue Danube waltz – made him one of the most prolific of all the Strauss men, and he continued to write until he died in 1899.

As with brother Johann, Strauss the Elder discouraged his younger sons, Josef and Eduard, from pursuing musical careers. Josef, born in 1827, completed his education in mechanical engineering and became a distinguished architectural draftsman in his field. Acting as interim conductor for his brother, Johann, Josef eventually left the engineering field to exclusively devote his time to the family orchestra. Although not as well-known as Strauss II, he was as equally prolific a composer, producing hundreds of tunes including about 500 arrangements of other composers’ music. His career ended with a fall from the conductor’s podium, and he died in Vienna in 1870.

Eduard, born in 1835, had a career in the diplomatic service, but also became an accomplished harpist. In time, he too, joined the family business as a conductor and took over the orchestra’s management upon the death of Josef. He maintained the Strauss Orchestra for over thirty years until its final performance in 1901. Married, with two children, his elder son, Johann, would continue the Strauss musical tradition. An accomplished composer in his own right, Eduard would enjoy the longest life of all the Strauss men; he was 81 years old when he died in 1916.

Johann Strauss III, son of Eduard, born in 1866, continued the family tradition of conducting and composing. While musically-talented as a conductor and composer, he was not as dynamic as his predecessors. His catalog of music was less abundant than those of his grandfather, father, and uncles, and his music was considered somewhat lackluster. Few of his compositions were recorded, and he died in 1939.

Thanks for joining us on this exploration of the accomplished musicians, conductors, and composers of the Strauss family. If you’d like to learn more about the Stausses and hear their music played live on mechanical musical instruments, join us this Thursday for An Evening with Strauss!

Pairing classical music with mechanics, the Morris Museum is offering a new composer series that will highlight the music, history, and technology behind famous composers featured in our Guinness Collection. Join us Thursday, January 16th at 6:30pm for the first program, An Evening with Strauss, which will explore the enchanting music of the talented members of the Strauss Family using a variety of mechanical musical instruments.

The name Johann Strauss is often expressed when conversation turns to the waltz. The most well-known Strauss, recognized as “the waltz king,” is Johann Stauss II. Professionally, the amount of work he produced—more than 500 orchestral compositions including An der schönen blauen Donau, or The Blue Danube waltz—made him one of the most prolific of all the Strauss men, and he continued to write until he died in 1899. While Strauss II may be most closely associated with waltzes, music was in fact a family endeavor that endured through three generations. Stauss’s father, Johann Strauss the Elder, or Strauss I, introduced the Viennese Waltz to the world. Based on old folk dances and once considered erotic and decadent, Strauss I’s compositions “waltzed” to the courts of royalty and the nobility and evolved into an acceptable dance form. Of his about 300 works, Strauss I is most fondly remembered for the waltz Loreley-Rhein-Klange (1843) and the recognizable Redetzky-Marsch (1848).

Due to the popularity of mechanical musical instruments in the 19th century, Strauss tunes could be heard in a variety of ways outside the concert hall. This cylinder musical box was made by Nicole Freres in Geneva, Switzerland, around 1852. The keywind box holds a brass pinned cylinder that contains 8 tunes, one of which is Valse de Tivoli (Op. 39) written by Strauss I in 1830.

The disc musical box, which features punched metal discs that could easily be changed, became popular during the late 19th century. Above is the Stella Musical Box, a 17 ¼” disc-player made by Mermod Music Box Company in Sainte-Croix, Switzerland around 1900. Note that the table top machine sits upon a matching base cabinet in which the discs are stored. The two discs highlighted are waltzes composed by Strauss II: Gypsy Baron, Treasure Waltz, 1885 and Southern Roses, Waltz (Op. 388), 1880.

Many families acquired pianos for their homes to play favorite pieces of music and provide entertainment. This baby grand, made by Wm. Knabe and Co., Baltimore, MD, circa 1925, is a reproducing piano with an AMPICO (American Piano Company) reproducing player system. The piano used interchangeable paper rolls, such as the one shown above of Sounds from the Vienna Woods by Strauss II.

Providing public entertainment for popular pastimes was the Orchestrophone Fairground Organ made by Limonaire Freres in Paris, France, circa 1910. Like a one-man band, the sounds aired by its 108 pipes, two drums, and cymbal are orchestrated by its program medium, a cardboard punchbook. Each of the perforations in the paper represents various musical notes and provides instruction to the machine. Often used to play popular period music, it’s interesting to see what is likely Strauss II’s most famous waltz, Blue Danube (1867), musically represented in paper form!

Johann Strauss II’s brothers, Josef and Eduard, were also accomplished composers; their musical works were found in mechanical musical machines like this circa 1883 cylinder musical box made by Paillard, Vaucher et Fils, at Sainte-Croix, Switzerland. This unique 4-cylinder Revolver Music Box features three Strauss compositions; two are known to have been composed by Eduard Strauss, and one we have yet to identify. Perhaps, next Thursday evening, one of the program’s attendees will be able to help us identify it?

Next week, in part two of this blog post, we will look more at the tumultuous lives of the Strauss Family. If you want to learn even more about the Strausses and hear their waltzes on authentic music boxes in person, then join the staff of the Guinness Collection next Thursday for a discussion and live musical demonstrations at An Evening of Strauss! We hope to see you then!

~Michele Marinelli, Curator of the Guinness Collection

An Evening with Strauss

Thursday, January 16, 6:30-7:30 pm

Tickets: $7 members/$9 non-members

To register, please call 973-971-3706

]]>http://www.morrismuseum.org/the-strauss-family-part-1/feed/0Morris Museum Loan Friday: Cottontail Rabbitshttp://www.morrismuseum.org/morris-museum-loan-friday-cottontail-rabbits/
http://www.morrismuseum.org/morris-museum-loan-friday-cottontail-rabbits/#respondSat, 04 Jan 2014 03:14:19 +0000http://www.morrismuseum.org/morris-museum-loan-friday-cottontail-rabbits/Happy New Years museum goers! It’s #MorrisMuseumLoanFriday and we hope that you all had a wonderful holiday. With the start of 2014, Museum Loan Department is excited to introduce to you some of the 1,400 portable exhibits that relate to subjects in the arts, sciences, history and humanities. We have served New Jersey public and private schools, libraries and private facilities and organization for more than half a century.

Since most of us are bundled up inside during this snowy day, we thought we would introduce our Cottontail Rabbit boxes for your pleasure.

Named for its fluffy white tail, Cottontail Rabbits usually live in brushy areas, edges of woods and swamps, and suburban lawns and gardens. During the day, it hides in a thicket or burrow. At dusk or after dawn, the rabbits come out to feed on leafy green plants during the summer. During the winter their diets usually consist of twigs, bark, and buds. Surprisingly, Cottontail Rabbits do not hibernate during the winter.

Cottontail Rabbits usually have three or more litters (kits) per year. Their litters usually consist of three to six babies. Like all true rabbits, they are born blind and hairless. After two weeks, the young are ready to leave the burrow or brush shelter nest. Maturity occurs at six months of age. A full-grown rabbit is usually 11-17 inches long, weighs 2 to 4 pounds, and survives less than 3 years in the wild.

These are just two of the many mammal specimens the Museum Loan Department has in the collection. Click below to find out how easy it is to borrow some of these amazing creatures.